


dress-up time

by darlingtimes



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, new members of the troupe exist but there are no spoilers!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23485204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingtimes/pseuds/darlingtimes
Summary: Juza asks Yuki to help him cross-dress, because he thinks it'll help with his acting.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 59





	dress-up time

**Author's Note:**

> i had one idea! and then i kept adding to it for a week with things i wanted to happen! and it got this long! hope you enjoy it!
> 
> my honorifics and nicknames and stuff are kinda inconsistent because i only left in some that sounded natural to me and guessed at others? kantoku-sensei i’m so sorry

After dinner one evening, Juza knocked on Room 201’s door.

“Come in. I’m doing homework.”

Juza opened the door and entered, glancing around awkwardly and moving to stand near Yuki’s desk. “‘Scuse me.”

Looking up, Yuki greeted him with “Huh, classic gangster. That’s a surprise, do you need something?”

“Rurikawa. I have a favor. Can you, uh...help me cross-dress?”

Yuki stopped writing and stared at the older boy in disbelief. “Uh, what?”

“Cross-dress. For a day. Or I dunno, draw attention... Like, uh...It seems to make your actin’ better, so...” Juza mumbled.

Maybe better wasn’t the right word, he thought. Juza thought back to street acts he’d done with Rurikawa before, where Rurikawa’d play a witty high school girl fighting a thug, or a little sister that reminded him of Kumon. Those roles always had flair, so he always wondered what he could to get his acting a little more like that.

After looking him up and down, Yuki paused thoughtfully. “Well, I have the time, and it looks like a fun challenge...Your silhouette is pretty masculine, but maybe if...” Yuki pushed his homework aside and went to grab his sketchbook from his desk. Before opening it, he looked Juza in the eye and said, “Request accepted. I’ll plan out some outfits and tell you when they’re ready,” then started scribbling.

Juza nodded and said “Thanks,” though it was more to the air than Yuki, and returned to his room.




The next afternoon when Yuki and Muku came home from school, Juza was in the kitchen eating some cake Azuma had brought home from somewhere.

“I’m home. Ah, classic. I have some sketches for your outfit, I’ll show you in a bit--take a look and pick one? Also you don’t need to hide your cake, we all know you like that stuff by now.”

Waving, Muku said, “I’m home! Hey, Ju-chan!”

Sheepishly removing his arm from around his plate, Juza nodded and said, “Welcome back, Muku, Rurikawa,” though Yuki had already disappeared into his room. “Yukishiro got some cake, I can cut you a piece, Muku.”

“Ooh, yummy! Azu-nee always gets fancy sweets. I’ll be out after I change!”

“Yeah.” While the two boys were in their rooms, Juza finished off the last bites of his cake, then went to the fridge to get a piece ready for Muku and a juice for himself.

As Juza set down Muku’s piece of cake, Yuki emerged again, sketchbook in hand. He plopped down in the seat across from Juza and flipped to presentation mode.

“Okay, so first is this one, which kinda has your badass look to it, lots of leather and black. This one over here is more natural--trust me when I say you’ll love the skirt, long ones are super comfy and nice looking. Ah, right this one--”

Juza watched, as Yuki flipped through the pages and animatedly explained the sketches--they weren’t made of too many clean lines, but the way every element was made clear on the figures, the swishiness of the skirts, it was amazing. The fact that the figures all kinda resembled him was cool, too.

“--and if you like this one, I’ll probably custom-make the dress myself, since wrap dresses are pretty simple and I want it to fit you like a glove. So? Any preferences?”

“Wow, these look really cool, Yuki! Are these for Ju-chan?” Muku appeared, peering over Yuki’s shoulder at the sketchbook. Juza gestured towards the cake on the table, and Muku smiled a thank you as he sat down beside him to eat.

“Yup. Your cousin here wanted to cross-dress. Well?”

“Umm…” Juza looked through the sketches again, pondering. He paused at the elegant dress and then the black outfit, but then decided, “I like this one, with the skirt and the sneakers.” Kinda reminds me of my mom’s clothes, he thought. All the outfits gave him a different impression than what Rurikawa usually wore, but they did look good, and he trusted Rurikawa’s confidence.

“Okie-doke. I think that shop across town had a section with oversized skirts I can alter for you, so let’s go there this weekend. You free Saturday morning?”

“Uh, yeah. Autumn has practice in the afternoon, though.”

“That’s fine, I’m pretty quick when I have a goal in mind.”

“O-oh! Can I come, too?” Muku excitedly looked at the Yuki and Juza. “And maybe we can go to a cafe together, afterwards..! Shopping with Juuchan and Yuki..!”

“Sure,” Yuki said. “You come with me all the time, anyway.”

“But this time is special, because Ju-chan!”

“...I’m fine with it, Muku.”

“Yay!” Muku hugged Juza. “Saturday, then!”

“...Yeah.”

Yuki rolled his eyes at the fuzzy atmosphere the cousins gave off. “Oh, right. When did you want to wear the outfit? I’ll tell Azami beforehand so he can do your makeup for it.”

Juza blinked and thought a bit. “...On my next street act day. Makeup too?”

“Yup. You’re not wearing something  _ I  _ coordinated without an eyebrow trim and some gloss. Then it’s decided.” Yuki nodded and stuck a bear sticker in his sketchbook to mark the outfit Juza decided on. “I’ll think up some more accessories for this...Wait, did you say street act?”

“Yeah. To practice actin’.”

Staring at Juza, Yuki shook his head. “I mean, I guess you’re predictable, in a way. You know that while you’re cross-dressing, you can’t just act like you usually do, right? You have to know how to act femininely.”

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever even  _ tried _ to act femininely? ‘Cause I know for sure you never got a female role.”

“...No, I guess.”

Sighing, Yuki said, “Well, I’m just here to dress you up. But I highly suggest you study and practice before getting on the street. Ask Azu-nee to help you, maybe, or the Director, because femininity is like a whole other role in itself.”

“Okay. Thanks, Rurikawa.”

“Yup. Well, I’m going to do my homework now. Muku, let’s look over math together later?”

“Uh-huh!”

Yuki nodded to the cousins, shut his sketchbook, and returned to his room.

Swallowing a forkful of cake, Muku asked, “So, you’re going to wear an outfit Yuki designed just for you? That sounds wonderful!”

“Yeah.”

“His fashion sense is really good, but of course it is, with all the costumes he makes. I can’t wait to see, I’m sure you’ll look really pretty and dashing, Ju-chan!”

“Mm…” Juza sipped his juice and listened to Muku’s chatter, the excitement his cousin radiated seeping into him a little and wondering what kind of confidence Yuki’s styling might instill in him.




Saturday came along, and the three boys were sat in a sweets cafe after a few manic hours of Yuki picking out shirts and skirts off the racks and shoving them at Juza to try on, not to mention about a million accessories. (All the stuff he tried on looked the same to Juza, but apparently there were a lotta little ways clothes could be different.)

Muku and Yuki were animatedly talking about their shopping finds--in addition to successfully finding pieces for Juza’s outfits, Yuki found an pretty floral dress he was going to restyle, and at the bookstore beside the thrift shop, Muku had found a volume of heart-racing one-shots by a new artist. Juza quietly worked through his churro-topped sundae, separate from most of the conversation save for when Muku suggested they all swap bites of their orders.

After scooping his bowl clean, Juza pulled out his phone to check the time.

“‘M gonna go back first. Autumn practice. Here’s money for the bill.”

As Juza handed Muku a few bills, Muku smiled and said, “We’ll pay for our half and I’ll give you the change later! See you later, Ju-chan!”

“I’ll get the altered clothes to you when I’m done. See ya, classic.”

Juza nodded and headed out of the shop towards home.




“Alright, guys, warm-ups’re over. What’s the theme for today’s etudes? Any ideas, guys, or anythin’ we need to work on, Director?”

Banri glanced around at the troupe and Izumi.

“You guys have worked on your action a lot this week,” Izumi said, looking up from her notes, “So I think you should work on some deeper roles; I noticed the situations you made in your etudes started to look a little repetitive.”

Juza raised his hand a little bit. “Uh...I have somethin’ I wanna work on. Female roles…”

Izumi’s eyes lit up a little. “Ooh! Right, Autumn Troupe hasn’t done that as a group at all yet. Thanks for suggesting it, Juza, since it requires a lot of awareness--we might have to take it into next practice because playing a woman well enough to work into an etude should take some studying, though. Do you guys want to give it a shot?”

The rest of the troupe voiced their assent, ready as always to try something new.

“I’m game, bet I could play the prettiest girl here. Got a better mug than this lot,” Banri said, smirking at Juza pointedly.

Rushing in before Juza could retaliate and another fight began, Izumi said “Alright, then, let’s do this! Taichi, you’re the only one who’s had a role as a girl before, do you want to lead them? I can serve as reference, too.”

“Got it, Ms. Director! Uhh, I haven’t played Zero in a while, but...”

The Autumn troupe dissolved into their usual lively discussion and practice, though pitched a little higher than normal until Izumi told them they could take a more natural tone.

Juza absorbed everything he learned, enjoying the acting. A thought crossed his mind, that when he asked Rurikawa to dress him up, he didn’t think it’d take quite this much--but, well, Rurikawa seemed to like spending the time on his outfit, and learning more acting was always good.




A couple weeks after buying the clothes, Yuki finished altering them and brought them to Juza’s room. The door was open, so he barged in.

“Juza? I finished the alterations, so try ‘em on.”

Muku came in more politely, calling out an “Excuse me!” after Yuki.

Both Banri and Juza looked up, Juza from the play script he was studying and Banri from his game.

Juza nodded and got up, as Banri paused his phone. “Hey, Yuki, Muku. What’d ya fix up for Hyodo, isn’t it Winter’s turn for costumes?”

“An outfit for cross-dressing,” Yuki replied, handing over the clothes to Juza as Banri’s eyes widened a bit. “You kept all the accessories, right? Try them on with these, I want to make sure it looks perfect before I leave it to you.”

“’Kay.”

“I’ll close the door so you can change!” called out Muku.

Snorting, Banri said “Wait, is that why you suggested acting as a woman on Saturday? Yo, practicing is one thing, but--”

Yuki glared at him. “Got something to say about the person  _ I  _ put together a  _ great _ outfit for?”

“Uh, nope.” Banri sheepishly turned back to his game, surreptitiously keeping an eye on what the other three boys were doing.

“Good. Hey, classic gangster, don’t just throw the sweater on over your t-shirt, you’ll look all lumpy! Geez, don’t you know how to--” Yuki ran over to fix how Juza put the clothes on, muttering  _ this isn’t even a costume _ and  _ how hard can it be to properly layer a shirt fashionably _ as he arranged the outfit.

When Yuki was done, he stepped back to look at his work. “Hmm...Well, it fits nicely…”

“It looks good, Ju-chan!”

“Don’t say that yet, Muku, he still looks like himself. Look over there and hide your face with your hand and stand with your legs together. Ugh, wait, let me fix your posture...There we go, I think that can be called cross-dressing.”

“Wow!! You’re right, just like a tall older woman you might see at a park, mature and lovely…!”

Piping up from the across the room, Banri said “Not bad stylin’, Yuki. Why don’t you show off some of the womanly charm we learned at practice this week, Hyodo?”

Glaring at Banri through his fingers, Juza cleared his throat and subtly turned his head away. “H-how does it look? You guys always telling me I should wear more skirts, but I really do think I prefer shorts…”

His delivery was awkward and choppy, as usual for Juza before he put more time into a role, but you could he put in effort into speaking lightly and shyly.

“Hmm...Smart of you to pick a tomboyish character, but definitely needs some practice,” Yuki commented.

“Oh, then..! Juuko, you look great, trust me! This way there’s no way he’ll turn you down!” Muku chimed in determinedly.

Catching on, Yuki added, “But even if he does, we can take a girl’s day out all together--it’d be such a waste of a pretty outfit, don’t you think?”

“You’re right, Yuki. Thank you for dressing me up, I think I have the confidence to tell him, now.”

Juza smirked a little and approached Banri, who was watching everything from his chair.

But before Juza could say anything, Banri got up and closed the distance between them, jabbing a finger at Juza’s chest. “Stop right there, you ugly oaf! Don’t get carried away just because you got a little makeover. That boy is  _ mine, _ got it?”

Muku gasped. “You…! You can’t treat him like something to be owned, he gets to choose for himself!”

Just then, Omi popped his head in. “Guys, dinner’s ready, and there’s a full table tonight--oh, is that Juza? Your skirt looks nice.”

Yuki looked Juza in the eye and said, “Juuko, don’t let Banko stop you! Go and tell him!”

Turning and holding his hands to his chest, Juza walked towards Omi, taking care to shorten his footsteps. Earnestly, he asked, “Omi, would you teach me how to bake and be more feminine?”

Laughing, Omi replied, “Gladly. Looks like I’m interrupting your fun here, but come out before your chowder gets cold, alright?” before ducking out again.

Banri snorted from across the room, holding back laughter. “How do you always manage to incorporate sweets into your etudes, Hyodo?!”

Juza blushed a little and mumbled, “She’s a tomboy, right?”

Muku clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Your tomboy was great, Ju-chan!! Did you model her after that manga I lent you about a girl who started working at a bakery?”

“A little, yeah.”

“That’s enough practice for now, right? Let’s go eat. You gonna keep that on, classic gangster?”

“Oh, uh. Nah. I’ll be out in a sec.”

Muku and Yuki left the room first to eat dinner while Juza changed into his normal clothes.

On his way out, Banri said, “You got that outfit for actin’ practice or somethin’? Let’s do this again, I can point out all your mistakes.”

“Sure, foxface.”

“Oughta be a little more thankful, fucker.” Smirking, he shut the door behind him.

After all his accessories were off, Juza folded the outfit as neatly as he could and placed it separate from his usual clothes, treating it with a similar care to his play costumes. Next time he wore it would be on a street act day, hopefully.

At the table, it looked like a lively discussion on cross-dressing had been started. Among the general chatter, Yuki was heatedly pointing out the variety in women’s silhouettes with Banri, and Winter Troupe was laughing about the dramatic difference between Azuma and Tasuku.

Juza took a seat and, though usually he engaged minimally in the conversation, save for some bickering with Banri, Omi pulled him in with an off-comment about how he didn’t look bad in a skirt.

“’Course he did, I picked it out, after all,” Yuki said triumphantly. Nodding towards Azami, he continued, “He’ll almost pass as much as me with Azami’s makeup to top it off.”

“Oh, so you’re doing the whole thing, Juza?”

Juza nodded, mumbling, “I wanted to try a street act while wearin’ it. Thought it’d be good practice.”

“Oh, if you don’t mind, could I join you? I’ve been thinking of adding some elements to my street acts to challenge myself,” Tsumugi piped in.

“’S fine.”

“Me too, let me come too~! Yuki, skirts are triangles, right~?”

“Not all of them, trianglian. You guys’re cross-dressing, too? If you don’t have any clothes, I don’t mind helping you out.”

“This sounds like some good publicity!” Izumi said, eyes sparkling. “Actually, April Fools’ Day is coming up, and Veludo Way’s holding an all-day street comedy event, so how about we all dress up for it and advertise for the company? Autumn Troupe at least should be on board, since they’ve been practicing female roles. Leaders?”

“Sounds good to me! Let’s see who can fool the most--though, that’ll probably a competition for just Yuki, Azuma, and me,” Banri said, grinning.

“It sounds like fun...!” Sakuya exclaimed.

“Well, I was already going to join, but it’d be a nice break from play practice, don’t you think?” Tsumugi asked the Winter Troupe.

“Summer’s already acted like a buncha teenage girls before, so why not?” added Tenma.

Following the leaders, most of the company seemed fine with the idea since it sounded like fun, though some were more reluctant than others.

“Thought I’d be free after the bunny ears...” mumbled Tsuzuru.

“Come on, Tsuzurun, it’ll be fun~! Besides, didn’t your class in high school do a maid--”

“Shut it right there or I swear I’ll give you two lines in your next role.”

“Whaat~?”

“Then it’s settled! Everyone, make sure you brush up on your acting and make sure you have something pretty for April Fools’!”




April Fools’ Day finally came, with all of Mankai Company cross-dressing and out on the streets--even Izumi wore a suit and a stick-on mustache as she walked up and down Veludo Way, checking up on all the groups they had split up into.

Juza had ended up with Yuki, Hisoka, and Itaru. He was nervous, but they had outlined their general roles and scenario, so all that was left for him to do was act. He was Juuko, a shy, tomboyish girl.

Dashing towards Juza and Yuki, who were ‘decorating’ a wall, Hisoka cried “Oh, why can’t my dates be like your father was?! Listen, Yuki, Juuko, I can’t believe I just got dumped  _ again, _ if only I met another person like your heavenly father _ \--” _ Collapsing on the ground at Juza and Yuki’s feet, Hisoka sobbed dramatically.

“U-uh, you weren’t supposed to be back yet!” Juza mimed dropping something and stumbled backwards clumsily.

Catching the item, Yuki faced Hisoka, rolled his eyes, and reached out a hand to drag him up. “Mom, what’re you doing, are you drunk? Don’t talk like Dad’s in heaven, he’ll be back on Tuesday! Get up, geez, wasn’t Auntie hanging out with you for the evening?”

“Wait, Yuki, we were supposed to set off the crackers and sing ‘happy birthday’ to her when she came in--”

“She already ruined our plan by coming home early, didn’t she?!”

Itaru glided in, calling out “Hey, girls, Auntie’s here! Did your Mom make it back first? She ran back down the street after I told her we were done for the night, probably thinking she got dumped again, but you know how loud she gets after just one cocktail--”

“Oh, Juuko?! Is that a skirt, you look so pretty, let Mommy give you a hug!” Tackling Juza in a hug, Hisoka sobbed some more, “You’ve grown so much, you darling little woman!! Yuki, you’re all dressed up too!”

Hisoka continued his hysterics, Itaru prying him off of his daughters and all of them attempting to get a birthday celebration going.

When they were done, they were met with applause and laughter, though the latter had sounded out often throughout the act.

“Do come see Mankai Company’s productions, we’re an all-female troupe that puts on plays year-round with our four seasonal sub-troupes!”

Juza, Yuki, Hisoka, and Itaru passed out flyers and collected tips, calling out other locations on Veludo Way their members were performing at.




“Not bad, right?” Yuki commented to Juza, as their group made their way home.

Juza was carrying Hisoka, who was sleeping because his marshmallow supply had run out right after their last act. Itaru was spinning Pokéstops, a few steps behind them.

“Yeah, it was fun...Uh, thanks again, Rurikawa. For the outfit.”

“Hm? Yeah, no problem, I like dressing people up. Plus I got to put together a bunch more after everyone joined in with the cross-dressing. Did it help you act?”

“Yeah. Costumes always help me get into character, I think…”

Raising an eyebrow, Yuki looked at Juza and said, “If you think that’s a costume, I hope you don’t think I’m trying to act as a girl all the time.”

“Uh, no. Sorry. I know you’re a boy.”

“Good.”

“...Acting’s really fun. I thought dressing like you would somehow help me be better, but I think I liked the practice the most.”

“’Course, you theater nerd.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading this far!!
> 
> extra itaru line i didn’t squeeze in: “Can’t say I’ve ever played an Auntie before. I’ll have to tell Azami I got an alarming amount of guys’ numbers, too.”


End file.
